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Input sought on gas line

WAYNESFIELD — Waynesfield village residents will be offered a chance to chime in on whether or not they want Waynesfield Village Council members to continue in their attempt to work with providers to make natural gas available to villagers.
Village Administrator Fred Rowe told councilors Monday that months of gathering information is finished and the time is now to move ahead with the project.
Councilors must decide if they want to spend approximately $25,000 to do a feasibility study in order to determine if it is beneficial to move forward on a deal.
Councilors needed several questions answered before agreeing to spend the money, but the problem is that most of the questions cannot be answered without the study.
Councilors said they still wanted to “test the waters” and see if enough citizens plan to tie in to make the move worthwhile for the village.
“How many people are going to tie in,” Councilor Chris Kaufman said. “I would like to have an idea before spending the money.”
Mayor Mike Ridenour said he felt residents had voted councilors in to
make those kind of decisions, but councilors did not waiver in wanting public input.
“I agree,” Cheryl Jerew said. “I would like to see how many people would tie in.”
When residents receive their utility bill that goes out next week, a disclaimer will be included on the bill asking residents to respond and give their opinion on bringing natural gas into the area.
No official estimates have been done and no studies have been conducted on installing natural gas lines in the village, however Rowe provided a ballpark figure of $3.5 million to complete the project at last month’s
meeting.
In other business, Police Chief Nathan Motter announced the village’s newly acquired drug-sniffing K-9, Yukon, has had his nose in the middle of a second bust.
After an attempted burglary south of the village, Yukon sniffed out a pair of discarded gloves at the location. Along with the help of an attentive neighbor, responding units were able to locate the vehicle and the suspect moments later and arrest him.
This came days before the incident where the K9 unit sniffed a small amount of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and approximately $8,000 cash in a stopped vehicle.
Motter said prosecution in both cases is in progress.